It is well known that a discharging fire arm, such as a pistol, rifle or the like will move rearwardly as the result of recoil and that the muzzle of the firearm will move upwardly. The rearward movement of the firearm which is due to the sudden release of, expanding gases is known as recoil. As a bullet progresses down the rifled barrel of a hand gun or rifle, the rifling within the barrel imparts a rotary motion to the bullet, thus causing it to spin during its trajectory from the barrel to the target. The bullet spin enhances the accuracy of the bullet during its flight. As this twist or spin is imparted to the bullet, a simultaneous reverse torque is imparted to the firearm. The simultaneous influence of rearward firearm movement or recoil at bullet discharge and bullet imparted torque causes the gun muzzle to jump upwardly and slightly to the right or left depending upon the direction twist of lands and grooves of the barrel. During the firing of individual rounds, where ample time is available for careful aiming and controlled trigger pull, the muzzle jump that occurs naturally is not a particularly annoying factor. During rapid fire conditions, however, such as during tournament shooting or the case of military operations after each muzzle jump, the firearm is completely misaligned with respect to the target and must be re-aimed at the target as quickly and efficiently as possible. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a firearm system where muzzle jump is substantially eliminated or directionally controlled so as to aid rather than hamper efficient rapid firing activities.
Another significant problem in conjunction with the use of firearms is the recoil felt by the user. Especially under circumstances where very high energy is imparted to large caliber or heavier weight bullets the user of the firearm will typically experience a severe level of sharply induced recoil. In certain cases this recoil is sufficiently heavy that it will disturb the user's ability to control accuracy of shooting. Also, the sharpness and severity of firearm discharge can cause bruising of the muscles of the user to the extent that shooting firearms of the high energy, heavy caliber type can become a painful and annoying experience. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a firearm system having the capability of extending the duration of the gas venting pulse to thus reduce the felt recoil experienced by the user and to minimize the possibility of bruising or other injury that might otherwise be experienced.